Environmental sustainability has been one of the pillars of Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Venezuela, for advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Various actions have been undertaken to raise awareness within its campuses and beyond, on critical issues like those related to environmental balance and the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change.
The university’s Directorate of Environmental Sustainability has among its priority areas of interest academic and scientific research on climate, particularly in light of the global climate emergency, as highlighted in the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This is also aligned with targets outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.
This institution of higher education installed automatic weather stations on each of its campuses, the one in Caracas (10°27'51'' N, 66°58'40'' W, 924 m) and the one in Puerto Ordaz (8°17'48'' N, 62°42'41'' W, 76 m), during the second quarter of 2021, not only to collect data but also to find ways to improve the university’s environmental management system, which highly depends on climatic variables.
The objective was also to record and disseminate meteorological data that contributes to the national hydrometeorological network, which is almost non-existent. In both stations, data of vital atmospheric properties are recorded every 15 minutes: rain, air temperature, the temperature of the spray point, wet bulb temperature, wind, relative humidity, solar radiation, and atmospheric pressure, as well as the concentration of particles of different diameters.
In addition, the station at the Caracas campus also estimates thermal comfort indices, air pollution, UV intensity, and evapotranspiration. This data is recorded and transmitted automatically and can even be consulted in real-time. Moreover, the information is included in the practices of the institutional course on Environmental Ecology and Sustainability as well as in other subjects contemplating climate-related issues.
The stations are also a core piece of new training programs to enhance climate literacy within the academic community and the general public. In addition, the data recorded in both stations allow the development of lines of research related to environmental sustainability, specifically with air pollution, urban heat islands, risk management, urban agriculture, thermal comfort, renewable energies, and the use of unconventional sources of water, and climate change.
In addition, monthly weather bulletins are published, and social media is used to disseminate data on extreme events that may have repercussions on the daily activity of Caracas and Puerto Ordaz inhabitants, such as heavy rains or maximum or minimum temperatures. Moreover, as indicated above, the university's environmental management system is also directly impacted by the stations’ data.
Having rain, wind, and radiation measurements enables the assessment of options to increase the proportion of alternative sources of electrical energy and new elements for comprehensive water management on campus. In the same way, the capture of data on thermal comfort indices allows the determination of the hours of the day in which there may be less or greater comfort, and such information is used to adjust and plan the acclimatization service in the university buildings.
The university is conducting continuous and systematic monitoring and control to ensure the proper functioning of the existing sensors in both stations, to guarantee reliable data. “This is connected quite well with the priority of the university to strengthen the impulse to research projects so that the university's contribution to environmental science is enhanced,” commented Joaquín Benitez, the university’s Director of Environmental Sustainability.
